"Command the entire army to retreat from Nancheng!"
Although Chi Zhanhui did not want to retreat from Nancheng, let alone retreat towards Jinan Prefecture at night, many things were beyond his control. The severe situation forced him to make a choice, but he only had one choice, and that was to follow Chen Qing's arrangement
Route withdrawal.
If he did not withdraw his troops, his entire army would surely be destroyed. The one-mile-long wall of the Western City would collapse, and tens of thousands of Western troops would have rushed in through the gap.
There is also a difference between him and Zhang Zhongxiong's army, that is, his army is all cavalry. It is this difference that makes him feel lucky, maybe his army can break out.
The Donghu army evacuated like a tide. Every soldier mounted his war horse and galloped out from the south city gate. Then he turned around and ran eastward along the official road. They were like a mighty torrent.
A five-mile-long queue was drawn out on the official road.
But Chi Zhanhui never dreamed that at this moment, Chen Qingzheng was leading a hundred thousand cavalry waiting in front of them, laying a dragnet.
At this time, Chen Qing had faintly heard the roar of the fleeing horses. He coldly ordered: "Send an order to the entire army. If they do not accept surrender, they will all be killed!"
Soon, the 100,000-strong army received the order, and they were all gearing up.
Thousands of cavalrymen running at the front had already entered the encirclement. Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Blow the trumpet!"
"Woo——"
A deep horn sound suddenly sounded, echoing in the wilderness.
The ten thousand crossbowmen who were ambushing on both sides of the official road raised their crossbows and fired. Thousands of arrows were fired, like a storm, towards the Donghu cavalry on the official road.
Thousands of cavalrymen suddenly fell on their backs, and most of them were shot and killed on the spot. At the same time, a blazing fire broke out on the official road in the rear. The official road for several miles was engulfed in flames. More than 20,000 Donghu cavalrymen were so frightened that they turned their horses.
They fled to the wheat fields on both sides, and what greeted them was a dragnet laid by a hundred thousand Western cavalry.
This was an extremely brutal and bloody massacre. One hundred thousand Western cavalrymen, who were like an iron wall, faced off against more than 26,000 cavalrymen who were frightened and scattered. Screams, cries, and pleas resounded throughout the night until dawn.
It just gradually ended.
Except for the more than 3,000 Donghu cavalry led by the general Chi Zhanhui who fought desperately to break through, the other 26,000 Donghu cavalry were all killed, and thousands of acres of wheat fields were dyed red with blood.
The sky was finally bright, and at a glance, the endless wheat fields were filled with corpses lying in various directions. The official road, which was several miles long, was also burned into darkness, and the official road was also filled with corpses.
Although no prisoners of war were left alive, more than 20,000 war horses were captured, a huge harvest.
Of course, the Western Army also paid a price. Although it could not be said that it killed 3,000 enemies and suffered 800 losses, it also paid the price of more than 3,400 casualties, of which 1,800 were killed alone and 7 were seriously injured.
More than a hundred people were injured, and the rest were slightly injured.
Yue Yun, the commander of the army, stepped forward and reported to Chen Qing, "Your Highness, I have confirmed that an army has broken out, and the general at the head is most likely the opponent's general."
Chen Qing frowned and said very dissatisfied: "The deployment is so strict, but the enemy is still breaking through. Whose link is the problem?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the defense line controlling Li Yuan was breached. He is in the far south, close to Jishui. The opponent rushed out from the shallowest part of Jishui. There happened to be no interception team deployed there, so I thought it was impossible."
Chen Qing snorted heavily and said: "Have I ever said that the most northerly and the most southerly are the easiest places to break through. I have repeatedly emphasized that there should be no carelessness. But what happened? I was still careless and thought the enemy was the enemy.
He won’t run this far.”
At this time, the commander Li Yuan was brought up, and he knelt down to plead guilty. Everyone else had killed countless enemies, but he was the only one who did not kill an enemy soldier. Instead, the enemy general took advantage of his negligence and escaped through his negligence.
"Being careless in one's duty is a crime worthy of death!"
Chen Qing glanced at him coldly and said: "Your carelessness caused the enemy general to escape and more than a hundred brothers were killed. You are indeed guilty. You will be demoted to the commander of the army. Do you have any objections?"
This punishment was very light, which was beyond Li Yuan's expectation. He cried and said: "Thank you for your tolerance, Your Highness, and you plead guilty under your humble position!"
Chen Qing waved his hand, and military law soldiers immediately took Li Yuan down.
Chen Qing then said to Yue Yun and Zhang Xian: "Clean up the battlefield carefully, burn the enemy's corpses and bury them deeply, take the bones of the fallen brothers back to their families, and treat the injured well, and try to save the seriously injured soldiers."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Chen Qing immediately led his soldiers to Xucheng County, which was ten miles away.
Order was also restored in Xucheng County, with 20,000 soldiers standing guard everywhere. Yang Zaixing, the chief siege general, came forward to see Chen Qing, cupping his fists and saying: "Your Majesty, there are not many defenders in the city. We only killed more than 2,000 people."
, plus the more than 700 soldiers buried when the city wall collapsed, approximately 3,000 people were annihilated."
Chen Qing smiled and said: "Don't report to me how many enemies you killed in the city. That is the least important thing. I care about the casualties of the people and the income from the trophies. You said these two yuan are enough."
Yang Zaixing said with some embarrassment: "Reporting to Your Highness, there were civilian casualties, but not many. There were about six hundred people, all civilians. They were killed by the rebel army if they could not escape."
Chen Qing listened to his vague words and was killed by the rebel army. The rebel army was probably not only the Donghu cavalry, but also the Western Army soldiers!
However, Chen Qing didn't want to delve into this matter. He asked again: "Where is the loot?"
Yang Zaixing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. King Yong no longer pursued the case of the manslaughter of civilian husbands. In fact, most of the civilian husbands were shot with crossbows by the Western Army when they rushed into the city. It was impossible to tell the difference between Donghu soldiers and ordinary civilian husbands in the dark.
Yang Zaixing said quickly: "The warehouse is rich in grain and grass supplies. There are 300,000 shi of grain, 300,000 dans of fodder and black beans, 1.2 million guan of copper coins, as well as weapons, pig iron, copper, cloth and other materials. There are countless materials.
Count it out."
Chen Qing nodded and asked, "Where are the local officials in Dongping Prefecture?"
"The prefect's name is Liu Cheng. He is said to be a relative of Liu Yu. He was not caught in his humble position. It is said that he evacuated with the enemy."
If you follow the evacuation, you are more likely to die among the rebels.
"Where's the general judge?" Chen Qing asked again.
"Tongpan's name is Su Jizhong. He was a Jinshi in the fourth year of Xuanhe's reign. He is from Jeju. He used to be the magistrate of Xucheng County."
"What are his folk customs like? Have you asked?"
Yang Zaixing leaned forward and said: "I asked some locals about this. Liu Cheng's reputation is average and relatively mediocre. It is said that he has only read a year's book and can't write many words. He just eats and drinks all day long and doesn't care about anything. Fan Gong
They wanted to remove him, but Wanyan Wushu retained him because he was Liu Yu's clan brother, just to show off. The real power was in the hands of Tongpan Su Jizhong, who had a good reputation among the gentry."
Chen Qing attaches great importance to the reputation of Jin officials among the gentry, but does not attach much importance to the reputation of the people at the bottom. The main reason is that it is controlled by the Jin State, not by the Yongwang Palace.
The prefecture and county officials controlled by Prince Yong's Mansion attach great importance to the reputation of the people at the bottom, but the Jin Kingdom is different. The people at the bottom have little luck, and the Jin Kingdom does not pay much attention to them. The rulers of the Jin Kingdom care more about the wealthy gentry and businessmen, and do everything possible to
They exploited these wealthy people, so the gentry and businessmen also had the most accurate evaluation of the local officials of the Jin Kingdom.
This Su Jizhong had good reviews. Chen Qing was a little interested, so he nodded and said, "Bring him to see me!"
